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I am really surprised there isn't a larger homebrewing culture in Canada, especially given the taxes you guys pay on beer.
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Jan 27, 2012 04:52
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yeah we're dumb, and stupid
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Jan 27, 2012 04:52
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Ok straight up plug time! (sorry in advance) To any northeast ohio homebrewing Goons: There is a homebrewing club you should join! The Little Mountain HomeBrewers Association (LMHBA) meets the third Monday of every month at Willoughby Brewing Company. Take it as a good thing or bad thing, but I was just elected Vice President of the club. Normally this means nothing, but I'm going to do every thing I can to push us to do some goofy poo poo. Order a used bourbon barrel to age something? You bet your rear end I'm already bothering the other officers to sign off on it! I also want to push for other things that single brewers can't do like have the club subsidize identical kits of grist/hops, but different yeasts to see the differences, and I'm very welcome to ideas. And if you think my ideas are a bunch of lame bullshit? It's fine, your dues still get you a 10% discount at a couple of LHBS stores and permanent happy hour prices at WBC! Win-win! I'm so sorry for all of the exclamation points. PM me if you want details first.
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Jan 27, 2012 05:54
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e: ^^ Oh hey by the way I should actually be going to a meeting soon and joining. Finally have money, etc etc  Getting in late on the "post your names/labels" thing, but this is my general theme. I never have actual beer names beyond style and version. A porter will end up being labeled Robust Porter v1 or something of the sort. This is my newer applewine label. The beer labels generally are the exact same thing except a shaker pint full of whatever color the beer is, and the rest of the colors are something that fits the theme.  The stupid "clever name" thing is just a placeholder. I don't really know what to put over there. Hypnolobster fucked around with this message at 14:22 on Jan 27, 2012 |
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Jan 27, 2012 08:00
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Discovered a new use for keg setups. Particularly useful if you have kids and/or middle of summer (We're in the "oh gently caress its 40c and the airconditioners blown" section of summer right now). Dump a bottle of cordial (I think its called squash in the US?) into your keg, fill it up with water (you might need to work out your percentages here. I used an indonesian Sala cordial, and worked out that I can fill the keg about 2/3 for best flavor), gas it, and cool it down to about 2c and blammo, all the loving soda drink your goony asses can handle. You'll be bulbous in no time! Or your kids will be, congratulations on goon parenting! You can get nutrasweet based cordial/syrup/etc but I have no idea if thats any better or worse. What I'd *really* like to do is find a cola syrup or the loving coke recipe!
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Jan 27, 2012 09:13
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I keep considering getting a bottle of SodaStream Energy Drink mix and kegging it with water and a handle of vodka. 5 gallons of Red Bull and Vodka would make for a hell of a party. Is chocolate malt a close enough substitute for carafa special II? 6 oz in 5 gallons.
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Jan 27, 2012 12:35
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Carafa II is dehusked which causes it to not have the strong roast flavors of roasted barley/chocolate/black patent, but at only 6 oz you're pretty much just using it for color so I'm sure it'll be fine. I've wanted to do a keg of gin and tonics for a party sometime but never actually got around to it.
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Jan 27, 2012 13:43
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duck monster posted:Dump a bottle of cordial (I think its called squash in the US?) into your keg, fill it up with water (you might need to work out your percentages here. I used an indonesian Sala cordial, and worked out that I can fill the keg about 2/3 for best flavor), gas it, and cool it down to about 2c and blammo, all the loving soda drink your goony asses can handle. Soda stream syrups also work well. Maybe try a small bit first to see if you like it.. I have made up the cream soda one previous and liked that but wife wanted the ice tea one, had one sip and said she doesnt like it so now I have a keg of soft drink wasting space in the beer fridge.. will have to just dump it I think.
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Jan 27, 2012 13:58
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duck monster posted:What I'd *really* like to do is find a cola syrup or the loving coke recipe! I've thought about making OpenCola before: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/OpenCola_%28drink%29
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Jan 27, 2012 15:12
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I think I'm going to take another stab at making a lager next weekend. For various reasons related to inexperience with lagers, my Marzen turned out loving awful but it should be better this time. I'm thinking this should be pretty good for a Pilsner, right? ~10# German Pilsner 1oz Perle @ 60 minutes 1oz Hallertau @ 10 minutes 2 packages of dry S-23 or whatever dry lager yeast my LHBS has. Should come out to 1.050 with 40 something IBU's.
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Jan 27, 2012 15:35
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That's the beauty of pilsner, it's not the recipe you're going to screw up.
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Jan 27, 2012 18:01
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Well you can screw it up with the recipe, I've heard S23 is dogshit. Never used it myself, the dry 34/70 rules pretty hard.
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Jan 27, 2012 20:21
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I did read a bit on HBT (*gasp*) about people complaining about S23, but I guess I thought lager yeast strains were more or less all the same and I chalked it up to the usual HBT idiocy. Maybe I'll seek out 34/70, though.
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Jan 27, 2012 20:49
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Josh Wow posted:Well you can screw it up with the recipe, I've heard S23 is dogshit. Never used it myself, the dry 34/70 rules pretty hard. I've got a Schwartzbier on tap right now that I fermented with S-23. It's fabulous. Literally one the best things I've ever made. One of my projects for the weekend is to get the beer gun out and bottle a 12 pack up for the upcoming competitions... cause if I don't now it may be too late before I think about it again.
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Jan 27, 2012 21:23
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So, semantics question: is Krausen purely the foam on top of the fermenting beer? Is there more beyond that, because that is not very specific. I ask because there is fragmentary foam still left on my Mild I've got in the primary after 2 weeks. Should the top of the beer be totally exposed or is that foam have to go down before I rack? Also I broke my hydrometer during this so don't suggest that. Here's a picture:  I know there are particles, like that stuff clinging to the side which contribute to off flavors, but they're obviously stuck up there now and not to cause worry? the temp of the beer seems to match the ambient temp of the room, etc. I was just always discouraged in brewing from taking any cues from visual evidence re: fermentation being done but here my directions say 'when the krausen falls' and given the rather shaky definitions I've heard just thought i'd check...
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Jan 27, 2012 22:40
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global tetrahedron posted:stuff Someone else can correct me if I'm wrong, but the krausen falling isn't necessarily the best indicator. The only real way to tell that fermentation is complete is with a beer thief and hydrometer. Having said that, I would give that another week if it were my beer.
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Jan 27, 2012 23:23
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Order a new hydrometer right now, when it arrives the beer will be ready to bottle.
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Jan 28, 2012 04:22
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I brewed my first beer with my new brewing partner, really he came up with the recipe and I mostly just assisted, but it's cool. We brewed a pale ale using Chinook as our main hops, then Amarillo and Simcoe mostly on the finish. I believe we used 1 ounce of Chinook at the start of the boil, 1 ounce of Simcoe 15 minutes left and 1 ounce of Amarillo 1 ounce of Simcoe at the very end of the boil. I think we're shooting for 5% ABV. Hopefully it turns out good!
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Jan 28, 2012 18:40
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LeeMajors posted:Someone else can correct me if I'm wrong, but the krausen falling isn't necessarily the best indicator. The only real way to tell that fermentation is complete is with a beer thief and hydrometer. I made a witbier last year and the kreusen just never fell even after several weeks, apparently some yeasts behave like that. I took gravity readings and it was done, so I just racked out from under the crud on top.
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Jan 28, 2012 22:46
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Getting ready to dry hop my extra IPA and I have a quick question. Do I need to rack to another container and get it off the lees before I throw the hops in or can I leave it in my primary fermenting vessel?
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Jan 29, 2012 01:17
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Popped one of my Roiboos tea beers today. Interesting. The tea flavor comes through up front, with a real strong unsweet tea taste. However, the finish is extremely bitter. I threw together this as a 2-gallon experiment with leftover stuff, so it was just a couple of pounds of light dry extract, some teabags, and some Saaz hops. It really needs some sweetness to balance out the bitterness of the tea. I may try it again with something like an English brown ale. Jo3sh, I think you asked me to post about the chill haze. This is from the gallon in which I put the bags directly in the fermenter to cold infuse, instead of brewing the tea beforehand.  Pretty hazy. Haven't tried one of the brewed tea beers yet...I think it may be really, really bitter, because I put 7 bags of hot brewed tea in that gallon, vs. 5 bags of tea in the fermenter of this one.
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Jan 29, 2012 20:01
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Racked two meads and bottled some cider today: The cider was about 3 gallons with a pound of brown sugar and whatever I could rinse out of two honey bottles with a little hot water. I used Lalvn K1-V1116 and it started at 1.066 and finished at 1.001, for about 8.5% ABV. It turned out pretty dry with some bitterness and tanin. One of the meads was the Fall's Bounty Cyser recipe from the Compleat Meadmaker book. According to my notes it started at 1.163 and finished at 1.002, for 21.13% ABV. I must have read the initial gravity wrong because the Lalvin R2 is only supposed to tolerate 16% alcohol. It's strong and dry but not too much of any particular flavor. The other mead I racked was also a cyser with 4 gallons cider, 10 lbs honey and 4 lbs light brown sugar. I used Lalvin DV10 with this one and it started at 1.128 and finished at 1.021 for 14% ABV. It's sweet and strong. Cpt.Wacky fucked around with this message at 00:34 on Jan 30, 2012 |
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Jan 30, 2012 00:26
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So I'm meeting up with this dude tomorrow that's selling lots of stuff from I guess his father's estate. Says he had tons of brewing and soda making equipment. I'm hoping to find some corny kegs, regulators or CO2 tanks for cheap. Anything else I should look out for? Pumps?
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Jan 30, 2012 00:44
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So I spent all weekend hanging out on an organic farm. A friend of mine started dating this dude a few months ago who worked there and he invited us all out to get drunk, go hiking through the land, and to play with all the animals. Turns out they have 2 Willamette and 2 cascade plants growing up one of their barns. Apparently one of the farm hands who used to work there was a brewer and after he left they kept the plants but don't harvest them or do anything with them. When next years harvest comes in, he said I'm welcome to take as much as I can! Additionally, I won't feel as bad about having no use for my spent grains, they would love to feed them to the pigs and cows to help fatten them up. It was an awesome discovery for my brewing hobby despite needing to wait until next year to get some of the hops, but I'm pretty excited anyway.
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Jan 30, 2012 01:21
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Daedalus Esquire posted:So I spent all weekend hanging out on an organic farm. A friend of mine started dating this dude a few months ago who worked there and he invited us all out to get drunk, go hiking through the land, and to play with all the animals. That's awesome. You should get some rhizomes from there and plant some hops at your place, if you can.
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Jan 30, 2012 15:52
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Can someone explain/describe the usage of these BetterBottle racking things (SimpleFlo adapter, you can see it at NB), maybe with some ghetto paint drawings? Are they meant for bottles that have a spigot down towards the bottom or are they supposed to be used (somehow) to replace sticking a cane in the top? The instructions aren't very clear besides the fact that they seem to be placed between two sets of tubing.
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Jan 30, 2012 17:41
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A guy on CL is selling his equipment for $60: 3 gal glass carboy 6 gal PET carboy 8 gal fermenting bucket Ale Pail w/ spigot and bottling wand bottle capper bottle brush auto siphon funnel/filter hydrometer thermometer iodine (sanitation) bottle caps Assume I have basically nothing already as far as equipment goes...does that seem like a good price for what it comes with?
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Jan 30, 2012 19:06
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wattershed posted:Assume I have basically nothing already as far as equipment goes...does that seem like a good price for what it comes with? yes
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Jan 30, 2012 19:13
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Synnr posted:Can someone explain/describe the usage of these BetterBottle racking things (SimpleFlo adapter, you can see it at NB), maybe with some ghetto paint drawings? Are they meant for bottles that have a spigot down towards the bottom or are they supposed to be used (somehow) to replace sticking a cane in the top? The instructions aren't very clear besides the fact that they seem to be placed between two sets of tubing. The SimpleFlo adapter looks to be a required accessory for the Racking Adapter, meaning if you want a ported bottle, you're paying an extra $45 for what may be only a perceived convenience. The Better Bottle website shows them used to join two hoses inline, I suppose as a way to justify charging so much for a little piece of plastic. I do want to replace my glass carboys with Better Bottles, but the more I've been thinking about it, I'd rather have 5 un-ported Better Bottles and one auto-siphon, than two ported bottles for the same amount of money. (Or a wort chiller, or more kegging equipment, etc.) On another note: http://www.brewhardware.com/wlsightglass/93-weldless-large-sight-glass-combo-with-3q-dial-thermometer http://www.brewhardware.com/valves/98-weldless-2-piece-stainless-ball-valve I've been looking around to try and find the cheapest way to install a drain, sight glass, and thermometer into my keg, and found this website. Does anybody here have any experience with this guy's stuff? I've seen people recommending it over at HBT, but I'd put more faith in a recommendation ITT, to be honest. Is it good quality? Can I find a better deal? I've been pricing out individual components for weldless installation, and I'm not seeing much if any savings.
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Jan 30, 2012 19:14
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Garanimals4Seniors posted:The SimpleFlo adapter looks to be a required accessory for the Racking Adapter, meaning if you want a ported bottle, you're paying an extra $45 for what may be only a perceived convenience. The Better Bottle website shows them used to join two hoses inline, I suppose as a way to justify charging so much for a little piece of plastic. I do want to replace my glass carboys with Better Bottles, but the more I've been thinking about it, I'd rather have 5 un-ported Better Bottles and one auto-siphon, than two ported bottles for the same amount of money. (Or a wort chiller, or more kegging equipment, etc.) It just seems soo wonky, but I hate worrying about spilling while filling bottles with my siphon. I guess it wasn't quite as bizarre as I thought!
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Jan 30, 2012 19:21
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Yeah the ported Better Bottles always seemed like a massive ripoff to me. I have to imagine a handy person could build the same thing with a drill and the right parts from Home Depot for like $5.
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Jan 30, 2012 19:29
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Garanimals4Seniors posted:On another note: I've bought various fittings and things from them when the prices are right in the past, and have always been pleased. I like their customer service as well. They once shipped an order to me missing a compression fitting, and they fixed it really quick. I don't know about these particular bits specifically, though.
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Jan 30, 2012 20:05
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Garanimals4Seniors posted:
I've had positive experiences with them in the past. I own 2 of the sight glasses he sells and am very happy with them. My older one is nearly a year old and has just started leaking where the racking cane attaches to the elbow, but I think thats a result of me not installing it low enough so it stuck out above the top of my keggle resulting in hitting it on the ground often. I plan to get some epoxy and try to seal it up now that I've shortened it a bit.
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Jan 31, 2012 02:12
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Beer porn time! Maple Brown Ale: 6 lb Dark DME 1/2lb Caramel 120 1/4lb Dark Malt 2oz Fuggles (bittering) 1/2oz Cascade (aroma) Irish Moss Gypsum Blend my lhbs produces, gives away for free, and swears by. American Ale 1056 16oz Maple Syrup It's super fermenting, and my closet smells like an alcoholic maple tree. I gotta go clean that sanitizer now.
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Jan 31, 2012 02:27
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Bottled my first 5 gallon batch yesterday, a strong APA. Now I'm looking at corny kegs and a kegerator, because that was a time-consuming endeavor! The beer smelled great (2 oz. Citra) and tasted pretty good straight out of the bucket. Can't wait for it to be ready.
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Jan 31, 2012 04:14
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Wooo, my first all-grain batch is looking to be a success. Chose to do a California Common since it seemed to be a style with a bit of forgiveness and nothing mushy.I collected a bit too much wort during sparging but I adjusted my boil time and seem to have hit my marks perfectly. I used a stainless steel braid, but I definitely think I Want to upgrade to a false bottom, just to give the ability to fly sparge. But maybe I should just wait it out until I get a stainless brew kettle for the false bottom, but that could be a while. Thoughts?
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Jan 31, 2012 05:56
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Huge disclaimer: I have only ever batch sparged. That said, I don't see a compelling reason to switch to fly sparging. You're adding like 45 minutes to your brewday in return for saving 50 cents worth of base malt, and also the chance of wrecking that efficiency with channeling in the grain bed or screwing up your flow rate. The whole process seems needlessly fussy compared to "dump in hot water, stir, drain, grats you are done". Congrats on your first all-grain batch!
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Jan 31, 2012 06:25
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Docjowles posted:Huge disclaimer: I have only ever batch sparged. That said, I don't see a compelling reason to switch to fly sparging. You're adding like 45 minutes to your brewday in return for saving 50 cents worth of base malt, and also the chance of wrecking that efficiency with channeling in the grain bed or screwing up your flow rate. The whole process seems needlessly fussy compared to "dump in hot water, stir, drain, grats you are done". I've been using a hybrid technique...with a prescribed amount of water like a batch sparge, but sparging slowly through a perforated plate and maintaining that 2" water cushion over the grain bed. I've only done it twice, but I have exceeded my expected efficiency both times.
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Jan 31, 2012 14:53
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On larger beers or 10 gallon batches, I almost always do a double batch sparge. I split the sparge water in half and batch sparge twice. It seems to make a fairly noticeable difference in efficiency.
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Jan 31, 2012 15:04
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Hypnolobster posted:On larger beers or 10 gallon batches, I almost always do a double batch sparge. I split the sparge water in half and batch sparge twice. It seems to make a fairly noticeable difference in efficiency. This is my usual method also. I'm hoping to be able to build a RIMS this year; how do those of you with recirculating mashes sparge? Does the recirc reduce the need for a slow sparge?
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Jan 31, 2012 16:51
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